A locomotive “consist” is a group of two or more locomotives that are mechanically coupled or linked together to travel along a route. Trains may have one or more locomotive consists. Locomotives in a consist include a lead locomotive and one or more trail locomotives. A train will have at least one lead consist, and may also have one or more remote consists positioned further back in the train. More generally, a “vehicle consist” is a group of locomotives or other vehicles that are mechanically coupled or linked together to travel along a route, e.g., the route may be defined by a set of one or more rails, with each vehicle in the consist being adjacent to one or more other vehicles in the consist.
A locomotive will typically include a number of different electro-mechanical and electrical systems. These systems include a plurality of different electronic components, which process or otherwise utilize data/information for locomotive operational purposes. Examples of electronic components in a locomotive include data and voice radios and other communication equipment, positioning equipment (e.g., GPS components), data and video recorders, engine control systems, navigation equipment, and on-board computer and other computer systems.
Certain electrical components may be part of a critical or vital system in a locomotive. In a critical or vital system, one or more functions of the system must be performed with a very low likelihood of failure, and/or with a very long projected mean time between system failures, for safety purposes or otherwise. To achieve this, for those electronic components that carry out a vital function, a locomotive must be outfitted with redundant electronic components. This can greatly increase the costs associated with implementing vital systems in a locomotive. Additionally, even with redundant components in a locomotive, a vital system is still subject to failure if both the primary and redundant components fail.
Some vehicles in a consist may be outfitted with various functional components, such as throttling, steering and braking systems, as well as traction control systems and air compressor systems that facilitate operation of the components and systems of the consist. In connection with these systems, one or more rail vehicles in a rail vehicle consist may contain non-propulsion consumable resources that are utilized by one or more of these systems. For example, certain vehicles in the consist may carry sand or other tractive material in sand reservoirs or hoppers that is dispensed during travel to increase tractive effort. In particular, at various times throughout travel of the consist, sand may be dispensed from one or more of the rail vehicles onto the rail of the track to increase adhesion between the wheels of the rail vehicle and the track. Additionally, certain locomotives or other vehicles may include an air compressor for pressurizing air to be used for use with one or more operational systems, such as braking systems and tractive effort systems, as is known in the art.
Throughout travel, however, one or more vehicles may be exhausted of their consumable resources before other vehicles in the consist as a result of various operational demands. Moreover, throughout many cycles of use over an extended period of time, such tractive effort systems and air compressor systems may begin to exhibit signs of wear, requiring service or replacement. As will be appreciated, however, a system on one rail vehicle may exhibit wear at a different time, e.g., sooner or later, than the same type of system on another vehicle based upon differing frequencies of use. Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for vehicle control that are different from systems and methods currently available.
Additionally, some known inspection systems are used to examine routes traveled by vehicles for damage. For example, a variety of handheld, trackside, and vehicle mounted systems are used to examine railroad tracks for damage, such as cracks, pitting, or breaks. These systems are used to identify damage to the tracks prior to the damage becoming severe enough to cause accidents by vehicles on the tracks. Once the systems identify the damage, maintenance can be scheduled to repair or replace the damaged portion of the tracks.
Some known handheld inspection systems are carried by a human operator as the operator walks alongside the route. Such systems are relatively slow and are not useful for inspecting the route over relatively long distances. Some known trackside inspection systems use electronic currents transmitted through the rails of a track to inspect for broken rails. But, these systems are fixed in location and may be unable to inspect for a variety of other types of damage to the track other than broken rails.
Some known vehicle mounted inspection systems use sensors coupled to a vehicle that travels along the route. The sensors obtain ultrasound or optic data related to the route. The data is later inspected to determine damage to the route. But, some of these systems involve specially designed vehicles in order to obtain the data from the route. These vehicles are dedicated to inspecting the route and are not used for transferring large amounts of cargo or passengers long distances. Consequently, these types of vehicles add to the cost and maintenance of a fleet of vehicles without contributing to the capacity of the fleet to convey cargo or passengers.
Others of these types of vehicle mounted systems may be limited by using only a single type of sensor. Still others of these vehicle mounted inspection systems are limited in the types of sensors that can be used due to the relatively fast travel of the vehicles. For example, some sensors may require relatively slow traveling vehicles, which may be appropriate for specially designed vehicles but not for other vehicles, such as cargo or passenger trains having the sensors mounted thereto. The specially designed vehicles can be relatively expensive and add to the cost and maintenance of a fleet of vehicles.